The Sun. — London, England, 1864-02-16 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OP LORDS— Last Evening, The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at fivo o'clock. THE SEIZURE OF THE RAMS AT BIRKEN- HEAD. Earl RUSSELL said the noble earl opposite, the other evening, in remarks on the 'detention of the iron dads, referred to several despatches written to Iklr. Adams, and wished to know how far the opinions and conduct of Governmfmt had been influenced by those communications. He Bart Russell) had been looking into dates since that tine, and how the conduct of Government had been influenced by despatches dated the 4th and sth of September may be gathered by the fact that on the 3d of September he (Earl Russell) came to the de termination to delay and prevent the departure of the iron-clads at Birkenhead. On that day Mr. Laird wrote to the Treasury on the subject of the detention of the vessels, and he (Earl Russell) also found that from a pri vate letter of his:own, written from Scotland, that he had taken the course he had already mentioned. That being so, it was impossible that the determi nation of the Government could in the slightest way hays been influenced by anything Mr. Adams may have written on the 4th of September. Looking, however, at the correspondence'presented to the Government of the United States, and more especially that part of it which he had taken part . in, he felt that had the language of Mr. Adams been less temperate he should not have desisted from the course he (Earl Russell) had adopted. It having come to his knowledge that the iron-clads building at Bir kenhead were intended for the Confederates, it was his duty to take steps to detain them, in order to obtain full evidence as to their destination. The noble earl then read the cor respondence as published in the American papers in support of What he had said, and concluded by stating that the noble earl (Earl Derby) who had introduced the question must have seen the explanation of the difficulty in the cor respondence itself. (Hear, hear.' The Earl of DERBY safd that he had not seen the ex planation of the difficulty that presented itself to him, and it only showed how much better it would be that such a cor respondence should be published authoritatively, (Hear.) With respect to another part of the question, the noble earl inquired whether Earl Russell had asked on the part of her I Majesty's Government an explanation from the United States Government of the circumstances that a despatch written by Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams, to be communicated to the noble earl, but which was not so communicated, had been actually published and laid before the Congress as part of the corres pondence between the United States and her Majesty's Go verrament. Earl RUSSELL, in reply, said as he had apparently con ' eluded too hastily that the noble earl (Derby) had seen the answer to the question he asked in the correspondence itself, he wished to withdraw the remark. With regard to the last question, he (Earl Russell) deemed that it was a wise course to consider the despatches as received, and to perform that duty with as much conciliation as possible. He believed 3lr. Adams had pursued that course, and he (Earl Russell) had communicated to the noble earl opposite the views of the despatch in question, though not the substance of it. (Hear, hear.) After a few words in which Earl GRANVILLE and the Marquis of CLANRICARDE joined, the subject dropped. DENMARX AND THE DUC iIIES. Lord CAMPBELL called attention to the treaties and conventions by whichthe possession of Schleswig was gua ranteed to Denmark, and observed that if it could be shown that Great Britain was bound by treaties as well as by po licy to guarantee the possession of Schleswig to Denmark, it might have some effect in leading to the earlier restora tion of peace. He contended that the guarantee of 1852 did not supersede or ennui previous treaties, and that the main tenance of the Danish monarchy was essential to the balance of power in Europe. Earl RUSSELL said it would be rash for the Govern ment to come to any positive judgment upon such im portant questions without the most careful and searching examination. That examination had been given ; but it would be injudicious at the moment to slate the opinions at which they had arrived. The relations of Austria and Prussia with Denmark were very differently affected to those of the other German Powers, some of whom, and especially Bavaria, had declared that they thought the Prince of Augustenburg was entitled to be acknowledged as Duke of Schleswig and Holstein ; and it followed from that that they would endeavour to put him in possession. Upon such an attempt being made, however, it would also follow that England must declare whether or not sne felt bound by the Treaty of 1720 ; and if so, it would be her duty at once to go to the support of Denmark, With regard to Austria and Prussia, their identical communica tion of the 31st January distinctly asserted that they did not contemplate the dismemberment of Denmark ; but, on the contrary. that they had entered Schleswig to maintain the integrity of the Danish monarchy ; and that the very cause of their entrance was to obtain the fulfilment of en gagements which the King of Denmark had undertaken as Duke of Schleswig, and in no other capacity, In this diffi cult and complicated state of affairs they had gone to Schleswig to hold it as a material guarantee, and he thought it was desirable to endeavour to settle all these questions by pacific means rather than resort precipitately to anything in the nature of a threat founded on the guarantee of 1720, Austria and Prussia were conscious, as indeed all the prin cipal Powers must he, that the Duchies could not be trans ferred to any other Power than the King of Denmark with out the general concert and assent of all the great Powers. Ha admitted that the Government must make up their maid with the best advice they could obtain as to the bind ing nature of the treaty guarantee of 1720; but ftr the sake of the peace of Europe everything that could be done by conference and negotiation ought to be done before any step was taken which might produce an attitude of hostility be tween any of the great Powers of Europe. Their lordships adjourned at half past six o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS—Last Evening, The SPEAKER. took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS, Over 200 private bills were read a second time and ordered to be committed, and several other bills were read a first time. POLAND. Mr. BUTLER-JOHNSTONE gave notice that on an , early day he would draw the attention of the house to the subject of Poland, and that he would make a motion in reference to the same. HERRING FISHERIES. Mr. CAIRD asked the Lord Advocate, or, in his absence, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it was the intention of Government to alter or repeal the recent laws on the subject of the herring fishery in Scot land, which the Royal Commissioners appointed in 1862 to inquire into the operation of these laws report to have "un necessarily restricted the operations of fishermen; to have repressed invention by prohibiting new and more productive forma of labour; as calculated to be destructive rather than conservative in relation to the future supply of herring ; and, although beneficial to certain class interests, as pre judicial to the consumer of fish and to the public gene rally ?" Sir G. GREY said he had communicated with his learned friend the Lord Advocate, and he hoped shortly to be able to lay on the table a bill on the subject. TOBACCO IN IRELAND. In reply to Mr. WE - volt, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that there was no special exclusion of any part of the United Xingdom for the growth of tobacco, but it extended to all parts of the kingdom, and the reason was, that it would be i mpossible to levy a tax on home grown tobacco that would suit the purpose of revenue in the same way that a tax on imported, tobacco would do. As far as he was concerned he should be happy if tobacco and other articles of import could be produced at home, but it could not be practically carried out as regards revenue. RAILWAYS IN DUBLIN. Mr. VANCE asked the President of the Board of Trade, if he would consent for an appointment of a preliminary select committee, c °mPosed of members of both Houses of Parliament, to consider and report upon the various rail way schemes affecting th e tity of Dublin, such committee to be nominated in the same manner as that which has been recently appointed to consider and report upon the different railway p ro j ects affecting the m e t ro p o li s ? Mr. M. GIBSON said that it was not intended by Go vernment to appoint any such committ ee . ALLOWANCES TO GOVERNORS OF COLONIES. Mr. HO r WOOD asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies when the Government intend to bring forward the subject of granting retirin3 allowances to governo rs o f colonies? Mr. C. FORTESC UE said it was not intended by th e Government to bring forward the subject. PROTECTION OF IHE METROPOLIS FRO,i FIRE. Sir M. - A•RQUHLR asked the Secretary of State for Home Department whether he intended to introduce a bill this year for the better protection of the metropolis from fire ; and, if so, when he would lay it upon the table of the house ? Sir G. GR . SY said that he was in communication with the managers of different insurance companies, And ho be liev?,d that a satisfactory arrangement would bo effected. DI ?ROVE \LENTS IN tiRDNANCE. Mr. W. EWAILT asked the Under Secretary of State for War wh ether any British or offieers, had been s ent to stutly and report upon the recent en tapplications of and improve men ts in artillery adopted in the war in the United States and in Denmark? The M arqu is cf HARTINGTON said that Lord Lyons had recllived instructions to report to the , G b o u v t emen y t o o n n s the subject as regarded the United States wen not of a character sufficiently detailed to meet r t e h p e orts re quirements, and three officers had been sent to the United States to report fill!) , on the subject. It had not been con sidered necessary to send out a commission to Denmark on the subject since the outbreak of hcstilities in that country EXTENSION OF THE COUNTY FRANCHISE. Mr. A. SMITH gave notice that on the introduction of the proposed bill for the extension of the county franchise he would move an amendment. THE COURT-MARTIAL ON COL. CRAWLEY. Lord /10 i HAM inquired from what fund the expenses of the late court martial at Aldershot were to be paid, whether the house would be asked to grant money for that purpose ; and, if so, when such grant would be prc posed ? The Marquis of HARTINGTON said it would not be necessary to lay any particular items in reference to that court-martial on the table, but they would be spread over different votes that would be submitted to the house. COLONIAL REFORM. Sir G. BOWYER asked the Under Secretary of State for the: colonies whether her Majesty's Government had received an important petition from Malta, asking for re form in the Colonial Government? Mr. C. FORTESCUE said that the document in question had been only just received, and it would meet the careful consideration of the Government. THE ALLEGED ARMISTICE. Mr. DISRAELI asked if the armistice which he under. stood from the First Lord of the Treasury on Friday last had been proposed by the Government had been accepted by the contending powers. _ _ Mr. LA..YARD said that an answer had been received by her Majesty's Government, from which it appeared that the proposal was not likely to be accepted. INSANE PRISONERS ACT AMENDMENT BILL. Sir G. GREY moved the second reading of this bill. Mr. HARDY, in objecting to the provisions of the bill, entered into the circumstances connected with the case of the convict Townley, which he said would not be met with in the bill. He would suggest, therefore, that the bill should apply to all persons sentenced to imprisonment or penal servitude; but that in the case of a person sentenced to death, if it should appear to the visiting justices that he was insane, they should make a representation to the Home Secretary, who should thereupon issue a commission of in quiry, to be judicially conducted, and the report of which should be published and be binding on the Secretary of States, without however affecting the prerogative of the Crown. He also suggested that such commission should include medical men, or that medical men should be brought in evidence before it, and that it should be to all intents and purposes an independent tribunal. Mr. MACDONOGH thought the effect of passing the bill would be to give an assent to the construction put upon the words of the existing law by the Secretary of State, and to render the words "it shall be lawful" absolutely manda tory; and this in principle would be wrong. Sir C. O'LOGHLEN supported the bill, but regretted that it was confined to England, instead of being extended to the whole of the United Kingdom. Mr. SCOURFIELD also approved of the bill, because it concentrated the responsibilityZof the Home Office, and did away with all concurrent jurisdiction. Mr. D. SEYMOUR noticed, as an omission from the bill, that there was no provision to meet the case of the prisoner who had become insane after sentence of death and subsequently recovered. 1 Mr. HUNT was of opinion that the only case in which an investigation as to the state of mind of a prisoner was necessary was where it had been represented that he had become insane subsequent to the passing of the sentence. Sir G. BOWYER said that Mr. Harwood, one of the medical practitioners who signed the Townley certificate, was not a registered practitioner under the Medical Act, and yet the Lord Chancellor, on being applied to by the Secretary for the Home Department on the subject, held that the certificate was perfectly valid, although the 27th section of the Medical Act provided that no certificate re quired by any act of Parliament from a medical practitioner should be valid unless the person signing the same were re gistered under that act. Now, which was right, the act of Parliament or the Lord Chancellor? His (Sir G. Bowyer's) opinion was that medical men should not be required to act as judges, but that they should be produced as experts to give their opinion in answer to questions that might be put them. He understood the common law to be that if a man, after the sentence of death, fell into that state of mind in which he was not responsible for his actions, in which if he had been at the time of the commission of the act the law would have acquitted him on the ground of insanity, then he had the benefit of the exemption from punishment which the law gives to persons in that unfortunate condition, which had been said by a great authority to be a sufficient punishment. That was the legal idea of insanity, but if they joined the lawyers and doctors together they would be at cross purposes. It occurred to him that a commission should be formed, certainly not of medical men, but of persons accustomed to the performance of judicial func tions ; and he was inclined to think that the suggestion that the question of a prisoner's insanity should be tried by a jury was the only sound constitutional suggestion that had been made. But whether tried by a jury or by com missioners, he contended that medical men should not be judges, but only witnesses as experts in such questions. It seemed to him to be a great defect in the law that when medical men were produced before a judge and jury to give evidence with regard to the insanity of a prisoner they ap peared in fact as advocates, receiving fees on one side for the prosecution and on the other side for the defence. The medical men in these cases ought to be called by the judge or by some person who had nothing to do or to desire, but to ascertain the truth. They ought not to appear as advocates to make out particular doctrines. (Hear, hear). Sir "W. JOLLIFFE readily admitted that the bill would be sufficient to meet ordinary cases of imprisonment; but he did not believe that it would either extricate the Secre tary of State from his difficulties or satisfy the public in the cases of persons who were under sentence of death. He recommended that the measure should be so framed that an inquiry should be taken in those cases only where insanity had supervened upon conviction. Sir F. KELLY hoped that capital cases would not be included in the bill at all, and that in any case where in sanity was suggested it should be sufficient to report or reprepresent to the Secretary of State or the justices that a prisoner was supposed to be insane, in urder to secure a proper inquiry. Sir G. GREY said he wished, before replying to the suggestions which had been made, to express his sense of the fairness, candour, and generosity which had marked the discussion. (Hear, hear.) With reference to what had been suggested about capital cases not being brought under the same rule as other cases, he should consider that and some other legal suggestions before the next stage of the bill. It had occurred to him that it was right to include all classes of prisoners ; for the object of the Act of George IV. was to remove all insane prisoners from prisons to lunatic asylums, in order that they might receive proper care and treatment. It was said that the certificate had the effect of setting aside the ver dict of a jury. But the verdict of the jtuy only found that at the time of the commission of the offence the prisoner was in a state of sound mind. The question as to whether he was of sound mindwas not raised in Town.. ley'scase. What weighed on the mind of the judge was the evidence given by the two medical men at the trial had no reference to the state of Townley's mind when the offence was committed, but at the time they saw the prisoner. The judge accordingly, in a most marked way, had called his attention to the fact that the prisoner might have become insane since, although the verdict was right, which pointed only to the time of the offence. A still stronger case than this had occurred two or three years ago at Newcastle, where, although the prisoner was sane at the time of the offence, yet, owing to his demeanour while the trial was proceeding, the judge entertained a belief that the prisoner had become insane subsequently to the commission of the crime, which turned out to be actually the case. Ho was still of opinion that it, was a wise provision to authorise the visiting justices to call in two medical men and institute a solemn inquiry, in order to set the Secretary of State in motion. Taking all the circumstances into account, he thought it was better to leave the increased responsibility upon the Secretary of State of directing further inquiry in all cases of doubt, so as to satisfy himself whether he would be justified in interfering with the execution of the sentence or not. In reference to the difficulty started by the hon. and learned member for Southampton (Mr. D. Seymour), he had no hesitation in saying that the words of the bill were quite strong enough to justify the execution of a pri soner under the circumstances of Townley on his restora tion to sanity. They had not proposed its extension to Ireland and Scotland, as that would have necessitated the consolidation of a great number of statutes, besides which there were no visiting justices in Ireland. At the same time he admitted that the whole subject of criminal lunacy was in a very unsatisfactory state, and that a review of the law was most desirable. (Hear, hear.) The bill was then read a second time, and ordered for committal on Friday. CONVEYANCERS, &c , (IRELAND) BILL. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL for IRELAND moved the second reading of this bill, the object of which is to render it necessary for conveyancers in Ireland to obtain an order from the benchers of the King's Inn, in Dublin, before they can be permitted to practise. At present they obtained a certificate of practice simply upon payment of a sum of money to,the Stamp-office; while in England no one could practise as a conveyancer without the certificate of the benchers of the inn to which the candidate belonged, Mr. M'MAHON hoped a clause would be inserted in the bill enabling English conveyancers, special pleaders, equity draughtsmen, and barristers to practise in Ireland, and vice versa, Mr. GEORGE eulogised the proposal. The bill was read a second time. MALT FOR CATTLE BILL. On the order of the day for the second reading of this bill, Sir U. STRACEY, whilst supporting the measure as harmless and innocent in itself, said he could not discover in it anything in respect of which the Chancellor of the Ex chequer was entitled to gratitude. He regarded it, in short, as a mere sop to close the mouth of the farmer, who justly complained of the burdens on land, and as intended for little else than to curry favour with agricultural constituencies in view of a coming election. Mr. BRISCOE considered the measure would boa great boon, for ho btlieved that farmers would fatten three oxen where they only fattened two now, and five sheep in lieu of three. E said that, when the h eavy charges on the land were rA e taken K into account, the bill could only bo looked upon as a mere trifle. Mr. P. URQUIIART declared himself in favour of a total repeal of the malt tax, as the only measure which would give satisfaction to the farmers. Mr. BENTINCK also observed that what was wanted, as soon as it could be obtained, was total repeal, and any thing which inrerposed to prevent that result, as this bill did, was a hostile proceeding. Sir E. DERING said the effect of the bill would be to THE SUN, LONDO' relieve agriculture from one of the greatest disabilities to which it was subjected. It would open up a fresh branch of manufacture, mad thus add materially to the stock of agricultural wealth in the country. Mr. MORRITT was not in favour of absolute repeal, but thought that with the large surplus revenue two-fifths of the malt duty might be surrendered without injuriously affecting the publiv:Aucome. As to the bill on the table, it could not be tarried into effect without fraud. Instead of being a step in the right direction it would be a stumbling block; and instead ofsatisfying the farmer, if it made him quiet for a timo, it would convert him into a rogue at last. Mr, F.. LONG remarked that whatever might be the merits of the measure, there could be no doubt that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had honourably redeemed the pledge he had giNreh to the deputation that waited upon him last ye on the subject of the malt tax; but he advised the right hon. gentleman to go the whole animal and see if he could not reduce the tax. Lord R. MONTAGU accepted the bill as something more than an instalment, inasmuch as it removed a great har:lstip from the farmer ; the one blemish in it was the interference of the excise; but that was an evil which he saw no means of avoiding. Sir F. CROSSLEY doubted whether a repeal of the malt tax would be really advantageous to the farmer, for the immediate result would be the introduction into the market of inferior qualities of foreign barley to compete with our own produce. He locked upon the subject of the malt duty as altogether a consumer's question. Mr. HENLEY granted that it was a consumer's ques tion, but it was also a producer's; and he should like to know whether Sir F. Crossley's constituents would be bet ter pleased with a tax upon the produce of the mills of Yorkshire upon being told that it was paid by the con sumer. It was, perhaps, ungracious to look a gift horse in the mouth, but he could not help thinking that the bill would not solve the question whether or not malt was bene ficial for the feeding of cattle. The results of the experi ments made by the Government during the autumn ought to have been furnished to the house. Mr. DUTTON feared the bill would, in practice, turn out a dead letter. Sir F. KELLY was disposed to receive the measure in a spirit of thankfulness, and suggested that sufficient interval should be allowed for its consideration by the public before the next stage was taken. Mr. BARROW did not form any extravagant hopes or expectations of the effects of the bill. It was very much in the nature of a bone thrown to a hungry dog : there was very little flesh about it. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that the report of the experiments made under the superinten dence of Government agents would be produced as early as possible. He owned he did not anticipate any magical effects from the measure, nor could he hold it out as an in stalment or a step in the directiou of abolition or reduction of so important a source of revenue as the malt tax. The bill was read a second time. The Collection of Taxes Bill and the Government Annui- ties Bill were also read a second time. In committee of the whole house, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the laws relating to the warehousing of British and foreign spirits duty free, Leave was given to Mr. PAULL to introduce a bill to facilitate the discharge of insolvent debtors in certain cases; to Mr. C. FORSTER, a bill to abolish the forfeiture of lands and goods on convictions of felony; and to Sir H. BRUCE, a bill to provide for the better watching of towns in Ireland. The house adjourned at half-past 10 o'clock. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE, SALISBURY AND YEOVIL. The report of the directors states that the earnings for the half year ending the 31st December last are £31,823 against £29,834 for the corresponding half of 1862, showing an increase of £ 1 ,989. The traffic receipts for the year 1863 are equal to £26 18s 9d per mile per week, or £56,031, against £24 9s 9d per mile per week, or £50,933, for the year 1862, showing an increase of £2 Os per mile per week, or £5,098. After deducting working expenses, Government duty, interest, and all other charges, a balance remains of £12,696. Out of this is deducted £3,156 for dividend at the rate of 5 per cent per annum on the preference shares, and £4,066 for the dividend recommended by ths directors at the rate of 5 per cent per annum on the ordinary shares of the company, leaving a balance of £1,474, which, added to LBBl brought from the preceding half-year, will make £2,358 to the credit of the current half-year. The double line has been completed and opened between Salisbury and Tisbury, and the branch into Yeovil has also been coubled, and is now ready for inspection, The directors have instructed the engineer to proceed with the doubling of the remaining length, 204 miles, and active measures are being taken for that purpose. A bill to enable the company to raise addi tional capital to complete the works has been introduced into Parliament. The sum of £655,837 has been expended on capital account. SOUTH DEVON. The directors of this company state in their report that during the half-year ended the 31st of December last the revenue receipts amounted to £102,614 as compared with £99,5226 for the corresponding half of 1862, showing an increase of £3,088. 7he net, balance of £29,596 available for dividends is proposed to be apportioned as follows : £5,070 annuities to the Ist of March, 1864, £2,250 divi dend on new shares, £6,753 dividend on additional shares, and £13,776 dividend of £1 17s 6d per cent. per annum on £1,469,425 consolidated stock, leaving a balance of £1,747 to the credit of the current half-year. The sum of £2,285 has been expended on account of capital during the half-year in new works and rolling stock. It has been found desirable to provide for a further addition to the company's plant, and contracts have been made for a sup ply of first and second class carriages and of goods break vans. The amount debited in the revenue account for re newals and maintenance of way and works exceeds the actual expenditure by £1,294, which, after defraying the deficit in the renewal fund of the previous half-year, leaves a balance of £842 to the credit of that fund. The perma nent improvements in the structure of the line and works, which have for some years been in progress, are now draw ing to an end. These charges have severely pressed on the balances otherwise available for dividend, the entire cost of the expensive renewals which have been effected having been charged to revenue. This course, the directors con tinue to think, is politic and sound, although it has resulted to the proprietors in depression of dividend. The capital account to Dec. 31 shows £2,464,241 had been expended. The revenue account for the past half year shows that £102,614 had been received, and £51,402 expended, leaving a balance of £48,212. From this is deducted £2,709, inte rest on debenture stock, £9,850 interest on loans, £1,294 re newal fund, £1,249 rent to Dartmouth company, and £4,036 rant to Tavistock company, leaving a disposable balance of £29,596, including £521 brought from the preceding half year. HULL AND SELBY. The half yearly meeting of this company was held on Saturday at Hull—Mr. J. R. Pease in the chair. On the motion of the CHAIRMAN', seconded by Mr. J. ALDER, a dividend, less income tax, was declared at the rate of £2 lOs per £5O share, and in like proportion on the half and quarter shares. The retiring directors, ➢iessrs. J. R. Pease and T. Ward, were re-elected, as was also the retiring audi tor, Mr. G. Buckton; and a vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings. LISKEARD AND CARADON. The revenue account for the past year shows a balance of £2,772, being an increase of £lOO over the previous year. A dividend of 5 per cent. has been declared, leaving a sur plus of £1,830. METROPOLITAN RAILWAY SCHEMES Yesterday the select committee appointed jointly by both Houses of Parliament to consider the best method of deal ing with the various railway schemes proposed to be sanc tioned within the limits of the metropolis by bills introduced in the present session, and report its opinion whether any, and, if any, what schemes should not be proceeded with during the present session, met for the first time in the Painted Chamber of the House of Lords, when Earl Gran ville, President of the Council, was unanimously appointed ehairman. The committee, after sitting for about half an hour with closed doors, to consider the course of their future proceedings, adjourned. RAILWAY BILLS. Yesterday, before the examiners, Messrs. Smith and Frere, the standing orders were declared to have been com plied with in the following cases :—Newtown and Machyn leth, and Aberystwith, and Welch Coast; Dumfriesshire and Cumberland (Solway) Junction ; Tottenham and Far ringdon• street; London Low Level; Bristol Central Sta tion and Railways. The standing orders were not complied with by the Sunningdale, York Town, and Aldershot. The Select Committee on Standing Orders was to meet for the first time to-day, Colonel "Wilson Patten, chairman, to take into consideration the various cases reported by the examiners not to have complied with the standing orders of of Parliament. LONDON DISTRICT TELEGRAPH The directors' report states that the net receipts for the half-year ending Dec. 31, 1863, show an increase of £llO over the previous half-year, and £327 over those for the corresponding period of 1862. An agreement had been en tend into with the Metropolitan Railway Company, grant ing to this company the exclusive commercial and general telegraph business on that line, and offices will shortly be opened at all of their stations. During the half-year offices have been opened in Ratcliff and London-wall, and some additional ermagements entered into for private telegraphs. The London Fire Brigade Telegraph has also been com pleted, and is reported on satisfactorily. The cost of all these works has been added to the capital account, and they are all i emunerative. The directors regret that the charges for maintenance and repairs are unusually heavy; partly to be accounted for by the expenses consequent on the severe gales towards the close of the half-year, partly by the greater portion of the instruments and batteries at most of the sta tions having been repaired or renewed, and partly by a new cable having been required under a portion of the London TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, 1864• Docks. The balance sheet shows an expendittre of £51,1321 including v 9,512 on profit and loss account The revenue account shows that £4,329 had been recei'ed and £5,125 expended, leaving a balance of £796 against the company. to the disadvantage of the extremely long line they have to defend, and to the stantiness of the troops they have to employ for that purpose. Whatever may be said of the numbers of the Danish army, I have reason to believe that not more than 30,000 men are at the present moment on the line—a line for which 150,000 combatants would not be too many. The amount of work falling to the lot of so small a force, encamped against such fearful odds, is not only wearing out the moral strength, but actually exhausting the physical powers of the Danes. Were the men even equal to their hard task, over exertion would soon tell, and is now telling against the horses. The inclemencies of a winter campaign begin to show their effects even upon the robust frames of the Danes. It is calculated that out of the whole of their army 1,000 are already hors de combat. A few have been killed, wounded, or taken prisoners; but by far the greatest number are laid low by illness, most of them victims to the ague, the result of their exposure to this severe, yet fickle climate. We had on Wednesday heavy rain, with dark, lowering skies; yesterday a bright morning, with gusts of cold wind and showers in the afternoon. To-day a fall of snow, half melting on the ground. The Austro-Prussians, more imper fectly clad and sheltered even than the Danes, must be exposed to greater sufferings; but men are cheap with them, and they can stand threefold the same losses without inconvenience. Their casualties on the field are described as very severe. I have seen Prussian and Austrian prisoners brought in, but not in very large numbers. Heavy firing to-day on the side of Hadeby. Should it leed to any important results, you shall have the news by telegraph. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, Russell's signature, and probably dictated by a telegram. So that although poor Mr. Adams was awaiting in the keenest anxiety the effect of his threatening letters, he was unnecessarily kept out of the secret some three or four days ; Lord Rus sell's haste and Mr. Layard's ready obedience were entirely thrown away by the tardiness of the Trea sury authorities. Lord Russell's remarks on the insolent dispatch of Mr. Seward were even less satisfactory. His lordship does not think it worth his while to take notice of this Yankee trick ; and Northern citizens, estimating the honesty of Eng lish statesmen by that of their own, will of course believe that the offensive dispatch was really com municated and had the required effect. Surely a Government that was fully conscious of its respon sibility and dared to do what was right, would, in some way or other, mark its condemnation of the insulting language published by Mr. Seward as correspondence with the Government of this country. Lord Russell, however, shuts his eyes to Mr. Seward's insolence, and can see only Mr. Adams's amenities. We candidly admit that the latter gentleman has discharged a very difficult task with great temper and tact. But no one denied this ; in fact, Lord Derby, on a previous occasion, expressly complimented the American Minister on the mode in which he had conducted his relations with the Foreign Office. It was entirely beside the question to panegyrise Mr. Adams, in answer to a remonstrance against his placid submission to Mr. Se ward's insulting threats. However, the artifice, transparent as it was, was not quite so bad as the unwarrantable charge made against Lord Derby of deliberately feigning an ignorance of correspondence which he " must have read." The latter nobleman at once repelled the charge, and it should never have been made. One is tempted to ask what can be expected of one who so recklessly imputes to a statesman of Lord Derby's standing the meanest " dodges" and pettiest of motives, and whether Lord Russell, of all men, is not a little incautious in his •eadiness to put an uncharitable construction on the ,anguage of a political opponent. f amendment, which was also negatived, and the report o the committee was eventually agreed to and referred back be carried into eecution. A motion by Deputy JONES being also agreed to, 11-,hat be— fore any proceedings were taken, the committee should con fer with the justices, with a view to see whether some arrangement could not be effected to obviate the necessity for applying to Parliament. Alderman COPELAND, MP., presented a petition fr°l3l the inhabitants of Conduit-street, and other tonatts of the • Corporation, against this Royal Arcade between: itegt‘tnht street and New Bond-street Bill, which was referr,4 t° Law and Parliamentary Committee, and the Court t.hll learned. THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN' WAR. (From the Times Special Correspondent wth the Danish Army.) DANISH HEAD-QIIARTERS, SCHLEINVIG, Feb. 5. What we witnessed here yesterda7 may be set down among the mere amenities of vier. So far as we might judge from the ,sound, there was from early morning firing all along the lire. We could hear the cannon from the Dannewerk, where, as we were told, attempts were made upon :he outposts of Fort or Battery No. 12, a fort plsced it a spot where the lines of the Great and Lit:le Dannewerk intersect each other. Some firing went on on the side of Missunde also,,but it was a slack, random fire, resultless and apparently objectless. The moat earnest efforts was made upon the inmeciate posi tion of the town of Schleswig itself, and we had to put ourselves to no great inconvenience to behold the engagement from beginning to end. From the upper windows of our hotel, Stadt Hamburg, and from the Chaussee leading from it to Cistle Got- torp and the suburb of Fredericksherg, but espe cially from the summit of the castle itsel, we were enabled to survey every movement, both on the Danish and the Austro-Prussian side. Castle Gottorp is a huge square pile of buildings, constructed in a modern barrack-like style, and sur rounded by lower wings or pavilions, which, like the main portion of the central structure, are, in fact, used for the accommodation of troops. Inside the court are a few round turrets, the remnants, probably, of the original edifice in olden times, and in front, in the centre, ever the main entrance, there rises a square tower, which may have been the keep, surmounted now by a turret of treat height, from which we saw the whole country stretched out like a map before us, as far as eye could reach. In front of us, facing the east, we had the broad level of the water of the Schleswig Fiord, or Schlei, with the town branching out on both its banks ; on our left the Altstadt as far as Holm; on our right the suburb of Friedericksberg, as far as the pon toon-bridge of Hadeby, with the inner lake of Hadeby Nor reaching far to the south, answering on one side the purpose of a vast moat to the forts of Friedericksberg, of Bustrup, and the cluster of the Great Dannewerk. Beyond Hadeby, in a per fectly straight line, carving its way, as it were, through the vast undulations of the ground, stretched the main road to Eekernforde. To the left of this road the shore rosein long woody bluffs, with the villages of Gartorp and Steekswig lining the heights. At the foot of. these Fartrop and Steckswig heights the broad sheet of water of the Schlei was hemmed in by large sandbanks on either side, forming a narrow sound, called Stecksswig- Snaevering, to expand soon after wards into a still broader surface, widening into a great round bay to the south, almost up to the Eekernforde road above mentioned, and on the north-east gradually cot.- tracting itself to wind through the narrow pass of Missunde. Nearer to us, in the centre of what I must be allowed to call a lake, between the Altstadt and the Fredericksberg suburb, and not much more than half an English mile distant from the Altstadt shore, lay the low, narrow islet of Meversberg, a mere slip of land, bristling with batteries at the water-edge. The whole country to the south of the Schlei, from a little beyond Hadeby to Missende, is already occupied by the Austro-Prussians, and from where we stood we could distinctly see the Prussians, three lines deep, posted on the Fartorp and Steekswig height. From those heights their artillery, at about 10 in the morning, opened fire on the island fort of Meversberg, which immediately answered with becoming spirit. A couple of hutdred shots were expended on each side in two or three hours, with no loss of life or limb on the Danish side, but with damage to the Prussians, as we are told, of one or two cannon dismounted. It is likely, I should say, that the enemies have hitherto only field-pieces on their position. One of their shells, however, fired from Fartorp, flew over the Meversburg and fell on the ice, a few yards from the bank at Altstadt, to the great amusement of some of the Schleswig boys, who ran to pick up the fragments. The distance from Fartorp to the nearest point of the Altstadt can be no less than a mile and a half English. So far as can be made out of the Prussian move ments, it would seem that they are bent on attempt ing to cross the Schlei ; availing themselves of that narrow channel, which, as I have said, separates the low sandbanks on either side opposite to their positions at Far torp and Steekswig, and which I have already designated under tee name of Stecks wig-Sneevering. The surface of the Schlei is still covered with thick ice in all its expanse ; bat frum the foot of Castle Gottorp, where we stood, we could see the breach which has been kept up by the Danes by sheer might of axe and steam, a blue serpentine line, which follows the windings of the deeper channel of the fiord, coasting like a moat the little island fort of Meversberg, and running eff in the direction of Missunde, to follow the meanderings of the Schlei all the way to its mouth on the Ilaltic. Whether the Austro-Prussians will have it in their power to let their pontoons slide down the ice as far as the water edge, and there throw a bridge over the chan nel from ice crust to ice crust, time will show. To effect this operation they will have to stand the fire of the batteries at Vinding and Fys ng, two villages lying on the northern shore, and seeeping over the sandbanks opposite Steckswig, Should the Austro-Prussians prefer making an experiment of the power of their art llery, it is very probable that with heavy pieces ttey could from Fartorp silence the batteries of Meversberg, and lay the Altstadt of Schleswig in ruins; little gain to themselves, this latter feat, but no joke to the in habitants, who would thus be ill requited for their alleged German propensities. Such, if I have succeeded in conve7iog my mind to the reader, is the position of the coitending par ties at Schleswig; or what I may call the water-side, Inland to the south of the Frederickiberg suburb, and to the west of HadebyNor, the Aug ro Prussians, who have their head quarters underMarshalWran gel at Krop, face all the line of the Dannewerk, and turn their main efforts against that cluster of forts which bears the name of the Great Dannewert, from No. 1 at Fredericksberg to No. 12, which was the ob ject of their onset yesterday. Opposite to Bus trup and Bustrup Vorwerk they are posted at K 6 ugshoj, or King's Height, and in other localities offering the advantage of elevated ground, and placed at no greater distance than a mile from B as trup, not quite two English miles from the very centre of Schleswig and Castle Gottorp. It was at this point, at the Bustrup advanced posts, that the action was so warm on Wednesday afternoon. The Austrians pushed so boldly forward on that occasion that, had they been aware of their advantage, or had they had daylight enough, there might have been some ground for the kind of panic which spread about in Schleswig that the enemy might possibly carry the town by a coup de main that very night. The hasty barricading of the Castle Gottorp Avenue, and of the Chaussee between the old and new town, prove that some apprehensions were en tertained even in high quarters, and a still stronger proof of the danger which the town ran is the de parture of the King, who left us in the night or early morning, it was said, fur Flensburg. The officers here, among whom his Majesty is not too popular, comment rather severely upon this conduct of the King, and ask to what purpose Christian IX. inconvenienced himself by travelling hither all the way from Copenhagen if he wis to go back so soon, on the first appearance of danger, without as much as showing his countenance to the men toil ing at the outposts, and without, Indeed, achieving any greater feat than the promenade in the mud described by me in a former letter. It is not thus, they say, that their good Danish King Frederick VII. would have behaved in such emergency ! The danger to the King, no less than ;o the whole army, is, however, by no means trifling. Were the Aus tro-Prussians to find their way across the Schlei, at some unguarded point, they m ight be on the flank and rear of the Danish army before this latter had time to effect its retreat to their last stronghold of Duppel and the isle of Alsen. A timely backward movement, and the abandonmen: of the Dannewerk, is not, perhaps, a very remote contingency. The bravest Danish officers cannot Phut their eyes PosT.—A few evenings since Lord Palmerston, in reply to a question put in the House of Commons, stated that, although reductions would probably be made in the estimates for the forthcoming year for the military and naval services, the efficiency either of the army or of the navy would be in no wise impaired. This country pays largely for the maintenance of both its armies and its fleets, and not unnaturally receives with gratification announce ments that the annual estimates for their support have been materially reduced. So long ea the nation is at peace, persons are apt to imagine that the mil lions which are yearly taken out of the taxpayers' pockets for military and naval purposes are so much money thrown away. Of what avail is it, they ask, to have thousands of men quartered in barracks throughout the country whose sole employment con sists in attending useless parades, and in owning fleets of fast sailing frigates and impenetrable iron clads which are from year's end to year's end either quietly riding at anchor or listlessly cruising from one part of her Majesty's dominions to another ! Those who indulge in this strain, however, forget that the maintenance of these armaments and the preservation of peace stand to each other in the re lation of cause and effect, and thae it is precisely because this country possesses well appointed armies and efficient fleets that those armies and fleets are happily kept in continual idleness. When, how ever, circumstances arise which promises to test the capabilities of the country, either for purposes of self-defence, or for maintaining in the eyes of the world that prestige which constitutes no unimpor tant element of national greatness, those who cavil most at the expenditure occasioned by the support of our military and naval armaments evince the greatest anxiety lest in the hour of trial they should be found inefficient, and watch with more than ordinary jealousy any attempts to reduce them. At the present moment the nation is at peace with every European Power, but there is only too great a probability that that peace may be of no long duration. At such a time, then, the nation would receive with anything but satisfaction an announcement that the Government deemed it expedient to reduce materially the power of either the military or the naval branch of the public ser vice. The navy estimates for the ensuing year have now been laid before Parliament, and it is gratify ing to find that, whilst the perfect efficiency of the navy is secured, a decrease of upwards of £300,000 will be effe,;ted in the expenditure demanded for its support. The total sum required for the service of the navy for the year 1864 5 will be £10,432,610 ; the last vote having been £10,736,032; show ing a decrease of £303,422. There is, how ever,always a difference between the sums demanded from Parliament and the estimated net expenditure, arising from various causes, and we accordingly find that the latter for the ensuing year will be £10,169,022, or somewhat more than a quarter of a million less than the amount actually required to be voted by Parliament. The decrease in the esti mates now before us, though considerably less than that effected in the estimates for 1863.64, as com pared with those of the year preceding, is, however, such as could scarcely have been anticipated consi dering the comparatively trifling modifications made in what may be termed the existing standard of the navy, and is mainly attributable to superior management on the part of the Admiralty. The net expenditure for the year 1862-63 was upwards of eleven millions and a half; whereas that for the following year was less than ten millions and a half, giving a decrease of upwards of a million. The difference, however, between the estimates for the two years was mainly occasioned by the extraordi nary expenditure occasioned in the former year in commencing the construction of our iron-clad fleet. Last year theestimates were reduced to their normal limits ; and if, this year,they have been still further reduced, the circumstance must be attributed, as we have already observed, to the more careful management of those entrusted with the disburse ment of the public] money. A reference to the several items of increase and decrease in the pre sent estimates confirms the accuracy of this im pression. In the following items reductions have been made ;—The vote for wages to seamen and marines will be £47,304 less than that of last year, while for their victuals and clothing there is a decrease of £112,867 in the sum demanded, The amount granted to the Storekeeper-General of the Navy for naval stores and for building and repair ing vessels is reduced by £169 951, and that for the Comptroller of the Navy by £195,137. Under the item of halt-pay to officers there is a decrease of £21,551; in that of civil pensions and allowances £949 ; whilst the vote for medical stores is reduced to the extent of £1,650. The estimate for wages to artificers abroad is diminished by £752, and that for scientific experiments by £685, making the total for the reductions for all those branches of the service £550,846. As against those, however, we find that the Admiralty-office will cost £3,283 more than it did last year, and that the vote for the Coast guard Service will be increased to the extent of £1,023. Her Majesty's home establishment will call for an additional expenditure of £9,258, and those abroad of £1,296. The estimate for wages to workmen employed in the home establishments shows an increase of £162,438, and that for new works either projected or in progress in the dock yards, an excess of £16,000. The votes for miscel laneous services and for military pensions are in creased by about £lO,OOO ; whilst for the army department and the conveyance of troops, the esti mates show an advance of upwards of £44,000 on those of the past year. As, however, the total of the items of increase amounts only to £247,424 there is a net decrease on the entire estimate to the extent mentioned above. The present state of the navy of this, and indeed of every other country, is one of transition, and so long as that continues to be the case we can look for no surprising reduction in the navy estimates. The largest item of increase will be found in the vote for wages to our dockyard artificers, and that the item in question does not show a still greater increase is a matter for congratulation. On the other hand in the decrease in the estimates for the Storekeeper's and Comptroller's depart ments we find those evidences of economy and re trenchment which the nation has so long sought, and sought in vain, in the several departments of the Admiralty. Ten millions sterling may seem an extravagant sum to pay annually for the mainte nance of a navy, but when it is borne in mind that it is to our immunity from the aggressions of other States the sum will not be considered preposterous. As a nation, we find it profitable to insure the peaceful prosecution of our commercial pursuits, and we therefore regard the expenditure occasioned by the military and naval services in the light of pre miums annually paid to secure that end. HERALD.—No one doubts the perfect accuracy of Lord Russell's statement as to the date on which the detention of the rams was determined ; but it is to be regretted that the noble lord's explanation was not a little fuller. As the case stands now, it would appear that Lord Russell came to the decision to stop the rams on the 3d of September ; and, strange to say, Mr. Layard on that very day wrote to the Treasury, desiring that the rams should be stopped. Obviously Lord Russell must have been so convinced of the necessity of losing no time that he telegraphed to his subordiaate in London. Mr. Layard carries out Lord Russell's instructions and writes to the Treasury. But on the 4th September, the day after Lord Russell telegraphed the order for the detention of the rams, he writes to Mr. Adams to state that the subject is under the consideration of her Majesty's Ministers, and only on the Bth is the determination of the Government to stop the rams announced to Mr. Adams, and even then in a form not requiring Lord COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. Another special Court of Common Council was held yes terday for the purpose of taking into consideration some matters of importance to the citizens of London, in connec tion with the new Pauper Lunatic Asylum, at Dartford. The Lord Mayor presided. TILE CONDEMNED PIRATES. Sheriff NISSEN, at the commencement of the proceedings, laid before the Court the letter he had received from the Home Secretary, announcing that he did not consider there were any grounds for directing that the execution of the seven pirates, at present under sentence of death in New gate, should take place at any of the seaports. Mr. Ex-Sheriff CocKERELL also gave notice of a motion that at the next Court, a committee of the whole Court be formed for the purpose of considering the best means of securing tha more effective cleansing at the footways and roadways of the City, and also to secure the more efficient public lighting of the same. THE CITY ARCHITECT. The LORD MAYOR stated that he had appointed Friday, the 26th inst., for the election of this officer. THE LUNATIC ASYLUM. The Court next proceeded to discuss the subject for which it had been specially convened. It may be as well to explain that the corporation have nearly completed the building in question, at Stone, near Dartford, at a cost of £38,464, the estimate of Mr Bunning, the late City architect, being £43,500. The whole of the money was provided from the City cash, and it appears that by the Act of Parliament having reference to such matters, the establishment, upon its completion, would be vested in fhe aldermen of London, as justices of the City, who would then be empowered to make a rate upon the inhabitants of the City for the support of the inmates. This has given rise to a good deal of excitement among the citizens, who appear to feel that as they had contributed the whole of the money for building the establishment, they ought to have the control over it, and that the money necessary for keeping it up should be provided out of the corporation funds, and they look with a great deal of jealousy upon the power that would be given to the aldermen to levy a county rate. A number of petitions from the different wards in the City have been presented to this Court, praying them to take steps to prevent such a proceeding from being carried out, and also, if necessary, that an Act of Parliament should be obtained for that purpose; and yesterday was speciallyap pointed for the discussion of the whole matter. Alderman DAXIN, the chairman of the Special Lunatic Asylum Committee, brought up the report from that com mittee, which stated that the building had been entirely completed by the contractors, Messrs, Piper and Wheeler, for the sum above mentioned, and recommended that the Court should sanction the expenditure of a further sum of £7,000 for laying out the grounds and fittings ; and also that proceedings should be taken in Parliament with a view to enable a committee of this Court to have concurrent control with the justices over the establishment, with a view to pre vent the latter from having the power to make a county rate for its maintenance. The worthy alderman, in the course of a most lucid and able speech, adverted to all the uilding of the asylum, and said facts connected with the : 2 that the committee over which he had the honour to preside had been in communication with the ccOmittee of justices upon the subject, with a vieW to ascertain w hether there might not be some concurrent jurisdiction between them and a committee of this Court for the management of the asylum, as was the case at Bristol, which town, like the city of Lon don, was a city and county in itself ; but they were unable to come to any satisfactory determination, as the justices appeared to be of opinion that such a course could not be legally taken. All that could be done, therefore, under the present state of the law was, when the building was com pleted to hand over the keys to the justices, who would then be invested with all the powers conferred upon them by the Act of Parliament. He said he believed that the commit tee had faithfully discharged the duty that had devolved upon them—(hear, hear) —and they had agreed to the re port that had been laid before the Court, and he now moved that this report be agreed to. (Hear, hear.) Mr. RowE said he should like to be informed whether the justices had not already taken upon themselves the right of appointing a medical officer to the establishment. the TOWN CLERK said he had received a notice to the effect that Mr. Octavius Jephson, of St. Luke's Hospital, was appointed on Saturday last to the office of resident medical attendant at the now asylum. (Cries of" Oh I oh.") A long and animated discussion then took place upon the question whether the report should be agreed to and carried out. Mr. LAwLEY said he believed that the citizens of London were not at all desirous to take the control of the new asylum from the aldermen, but all they were afraid of was that a county rate should be imposed upon them, (Hear, hear.) If this Court were allowed to have control over the expen diture, and there was an assurance given by the justices that no county rate would be levied, he thought that was all that would be required. He considered also that there was this objection to applying to Parliament—that if these views were carried out the city of London would be reduced on this particular question of the condition of an ordinary borough, and would be deprived of the privileges it enjoyed as a city and a county, (Hear, hear.) Deputy ELLIOTT opposed the report so far as it related to making an application to Parliament, and expressed his opi nion that the control of the asylum ought to be vested in the justices, who were the persons empowered by the law to have that control. (Hear, hear.) Alderman PHILLIPS also expressed himself opposed to going to Parliament, and said that the only effect of such a proceeding was, to ask the Legislature to allow them to do that which one section of the corporation had the power to do already. He asked the Court whether the aldermen of London had ever abused any of the privileges that were granted to them by their fellow citizens. (Bear.) He said he really could not understand why such a discussion should have arisen, and he believed that the inhabitants of the wards who had petitioned the Court, had done so under some most erroneous statements of the facts. With regard to the allegation that the justices intended to make a county rate, there was not the slightest foundation for it. (Ilear, hear.) The corporation had plenty of funds, and there was no ne cessity for making a county rate, and this being the case, he was at a loss to see why the justices of the City of London should be deprived of those powers that were vested in them by law. (Hear, hear.) Mr, J. Symons, Mr. Rowe, and one or two other gentle men supported the report, and said that although they had great confidence in the Court of Aldermen, and believed that the justices performed all their duties in the most honour able and zealous manner, still they were unwilling to give them the power of adopting such an obnoxious proceeding as the levying of a county rate. Alderman J. C. Lawrence and Alderman Copeland next addressed the Court, and they denied in the most distinct terms that any intention had ever been entertained or ex pressed by the justices of the City of London to make a county rate. (Hear, hear.) Mr. H. L. TAYLOR. said that the court was aware that on all occasions he was most anxious to uphold the privileges of that Court and of the corporat ion generally, but the inha bitants who had petitioned on the present occasion seemed to have lost sight of th e f act t h at, by law, the right of manag leg this asylum was vested in the justices and the question was whether it w as a d v i sa b le to go to Parliament to get that law altered. (Hear, hear.) He was of opinion that it was not. The justices had always done their duty properly, and why should they be deprived of the powers given them by the law? (Hear, hear.) Even if there were to be a county rate, which he did not believe was at all probable, it would not be more than a halfpenny in the pound, and he was sure the citizens of London would not object to pay such an amount for the important purpose to which it was to be devoted. (Hear, hear.) Mr. RUDKIN, after some further discussion had taken place, moved an amendment to the effect, that the committee be empowered to complete the building, and that it be then handed over to the justices of the city of London to be placed under their management. Upon a division there anpeared-- For the amendment .................... 49 Against it ............................ 59 Majority against the amendment.... —lO Alderman ROSE, N,P., subsequently proposed another -- --- BRIGHTON ELECTION, ---... -- The election of a member of Parliament to fill the vacancr in the representation of Brighton, occasioned by the resig- There nation of Mr. W. Coningham, took place yesterday were five candidates in the field, three of whom were Libe rals, the other two being a Conservative and a Protestant par excellence. All through the election, which has been one of the most keenly contested that has ever taken plac° in Brighton, there was a lamentable w ant of union 004. the Liberal party, each of the three opposing maintaining his determination to go to the poll at a hazards, although repeated attempts to effect a Compri:anis° were made. One of these consisted in a proposal mad e l ', / the Hon. al. Brand, M.P., that the difference should '43 decided by a preliminary ballot of the electors, but this was set aside in consequence of the agent of cne of the' j a ded* candidates insisting that the whole of the electors, prO' jog the Conservatives, should be comprised in it, posal that the difficulty should be referred for Settlement t° candiclateisi Mr. Brand, Mr. Cobden, and another member of Parliareeo. also failed to produce the desired result. It was understoo.n that at the last moment a desperate attempt would be n3 O to keep out the Conservative candidate, by a union of the Liberal interest about noon in favour of the can sa° then headed the poll, and consequently almost frantic effort: were made by the agents of the several Liberal candidates : get their respective supporters to vote early. T he f e e that of each candidate for early polling arose from the fee t ~A a large number of the Liberal electors had not prorais7 their votes to any one, and it was expected they would c ° e for the one who had polled the largest number of vote° of to noon. Th e consequence of this dissen sion among the Li beral arty, as was all along foreseen, was to to the Conservative candidate, Mr. Moor, who was ret tirl' : at the head of the poll by a large majority. Mr. P °l9 o - ;.. finding his chance of success gone, withdrew from the con' test between 10 and 11 o'clock. Mr. Fawcett hescledmr, poll for the first two hours, when he was overtaken bY "'" of . give an easy turned Moor, whose majority steadily increased until then el°6he the poll. At 4 o'clock, when the voting ceased, the tle3-e were as follows : Mr. H. Moor (Conservative) ...... , ..... 11624 Mr. H. Fawcett (Libel al) ................. ' 1 ' 4 2 51 Mr. F. K. Dumas (Liberal)... ........... - :g 9 Mr. J. Goldsmid (Liberal) .............. "',,,-1 Mr. E. Harper (" Protestant") .......... ''; the The town was in a state of great excitement elatedttriti'ce day, and a good deal of squabbling and fighting took among the "r oughs" who congregated at thehu 01° 511c tat the v arious polling-booths and in f ront of the stias, no sericus breach of the peace took place. --------• COUNTRY MARKETS. COLCHESTER—FEB. 13. 00 ,r1M We had a fair show of wheat on offer at this O r to-day, and former prices were is per quarter ,u,lit9a4 middling sorts. Fine malting barley scarce, all. cl l a ir li e. dear; other sorts rather lower. Beans and peas in 5 , 25 mond, and late rates about supported. .29 t 3 i Wheat, white .. 44s 508 Beans, Mazagen• 3 0 0 ' redo,ll. - 3Sg .. 40s 44s middle Sz o il 353 10 Barley Oats 2os 25s . grey .... --- GLOUCESTER—FEB. 13. frO eg There was a fair supply of Englis h wheat t°-u t 3j P ric the farmers which met a slow sale a t about foriii e rates 0i Foreign wheat still dull, with no advance ou last week. Barley, oats, and beans dull. NORTHAMPTON—FEB. t 13. rates Iv' The show of wheat .was moderate , and recen 0410 3 a shade lower, with only a middling deuitall• f 2 11 5 i0r5 /3° average show, with a moderate sale, and inaL li o 7 : 0 , r:3 rates.—White wheat, 39s to 47s ; red, 38s to 4- '„' - ';',, to ''": to —s per qr. Barley, 35s to 37s— *rinding. " P elf 18s to 30s per 24 stone. Bean ' s, Oats, 30 8 to 4U' 30s to 38s per qr. a CHELMSFORD—FE2. 12. fair slosvic; At this corn excange to-day there was a wheat, which met a h dull sale, and was unalte red Spring corn nominal. ,36 3 364 Wheat, old white 30s 48s Yeas, Partridge'''.3oo 415 new 44e 51s White ...... ''',39 306 old red 34s 41s Boiling • •••• '' . ,3 3 s ~.0 new 38s 428 Dun ........ '' ' .-- 0 399 Barley ..25s 34s Ditto new • ~",...:3.1 s „A Chevalier ..26s 37s Beans, Tick, 01 ' .-0 40$ Grinding 20s 29s nes g ".3s ,e Malt.... 61s 67s Harrow 'Ticks • ' --- 5 5 5$ Chevalier . 64s 69s rick Oats 20s 28s Mazagan ...''' A KIRKCALDY GRAIN—FEB. 1;5 " oats 1 0 w We had good supplies of all kinds of gridr*witl 3 barley in detnan(;, at late quotations. Wheail trade, Is to 2s per qi down. Cats: Wheat. Barley. 16s 6 ' O d 26s;Od. 17 , 0(.1 Second .. 35s 6d 27s 6d is, Od Third...37s Od 29s 0(1 COAL Macs ofiCoal per 'Con a' DI Alt I( ET. Jot . t tne Close of is i° ,1 6 A V y l a rct . • • . 14 Cowpen. Bartley.. • .• • ' 1 / aolywell ........ • • • _ s. d. Buddle'sWest Hartley 14 9 Byass's Bebside West Hartley ..14 9 Walls Vlcl' 1/ 6 0 Riddell.. ........ • H.eugh ....... 90 ; sold, 34, —.oar Lambert's West Hart- ley . _ 14 6 Walker Primrose 12 3 ii,:stings Hartley l4 9 Ships at marks ...!T.10,.......= 1.........2:7-______---- A. A3 u r s a t z r u al a i n a I s , . yeb• 0, danc:apmoeraevuiregi:r .u.::scA:vlviyaiL:is4_s;uat:i:i Eak:re}:tio Jai.: .... .... vet); 6, Cape of Good Hope, Ascensaißol‘rnlitaiarssnheidijilSiretk. il.t.c:1:ip:ti:::11:c,e1:15i: China, renting, and Singapore', vviiati:::r.srotee4.iergiriei.se.o.:....l:ebb..; G Fa ib lk ra la l cc t n ßc a a r ao , i lme s v u l b - i a a ta n tya (l ) S; : o a u vai t a n d a s n uo i eu ' p y . t t . l o ho . n an . 3: n y i) .. ;ii . , 431, ..a . • :ll' a " ,., p : ' t . : 1 i ••• . : Fe ebil 6 s: , Indlndia India Malta,.. Portugal. ~• land wfount. :• • via Islarseilles ...... o.fd, Egy p t , and via Aden, lars ; e i j a l: ..... ...... ............... ......... ''''''''''''''' Vibt'll: 1 1 :4(' i. ........... ' ~, Oporto and Vigo ............ •..v,e. II U. S. and British N. America, by B .' ;it .. p • acke. ••' .„., by U.S. Packet,:i:e.r..fell; 10, W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and 'bryenCerillaeclia..noP•a:* . ' ' ,7 l‘,ti: ,. r . : '2 l9l' ' Bahamas, via New York .................... ...f ew 061. Mexico.. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, l' (31. ' ) California. and British Columbia. ........... inSt ..........""'..•..............''''....__________ 11' Cle s"' Persons in debt may obtain instant-- proteentlearsst:: imprisonment or seizure of their goods, nd so e sr ppli c p oi. from all debts and lialAlities without publieitY'il).'l3l°Ve°'‘ to Messrs. Marshall, who:tors of the Court 0. cats' °lvor- Charges under LS payable by easy instalfl,,--6 (established 1830), 12, Hatton-garden. Cal o f th o br°` .-- gate-street , Bank —ADVT. 'OiseSO no ~:ii it tal ti r re LADvnwrisEmENT.l—Holloway's J. 11 10. Or 4,0- ' Digestive Organs.- , . These admirable Pill.4so, theatuicic mercury nor other noxious ingredients, 804 ofte l3 ,o 03° peculiarly adapted for those ailments, vil i ; 1 A 10 cle!' i ti o po n „' ' the mucous membranes. Holloway 'o ;",totito ",yofeb-i, bbod, stomach, liver, and lungs from all ,"1,,,,e tb ° ,'of ,i',. - ties, and subdue local irritation. They iruPaiorder'cool'N of digestion, and speedily eradicate all , th esd, o il? liver, bowels, and kidneys. A course of ilasov. Pills prevents the distressing bilious attacks.irdiootalo• ache, and mainddwceoastthiveer,naesnsd. diAspselpsufaraifituerl:V. 90:101u btillocolcbp:oireci,el way's Pills stand unrivalled, hence the 13,11i0r00,58.0 OP of clarifying the complexion, removing tl-i, .i,g 0 ing the growth of pimples, and reuovat ,-- functions. ..--- L of o o n v g Births. wi fe of 6. (= n o q t ., h 9 e t l h ot h Lancers,inst - berto t 164 , the ~p er fan — , 111ARTINEATI.—On the 15th inst. at 13, I_,Wtiticall,' race, Regent's-park, the wife oillubert Iw' f3ef‘ of a daughter.tre eti r MAyNARD —On the 14th inst., at 38, anusCharleSlhte..,er keley-square, the Hon. Mrs. Maynard, et 6 we e, I ° TRMANN.—On the 14th inst., at 26, 011atie`4; f A 0 13 ' kelersquare, the Lady Frances TrerasPle' Marriages. , „de , _, st, v e f a ce, LOADEN—MOSLEM.—On the 15th inst., rdorci,fpelt Russell -square, George Loaden, Esq. et ~;:e la te )- Russell -square, to Augusta, dau,ghter of l'y'i,a, to, Mosley, Esq,, St.G'eorge's-square, 11 a t ti. t 1314'713Ra, PITTMAN—THRIJrr. —On the 13th instilorse A 14104, Major Richard Pittman, he ltoyal _bat TO l' to Caroline Ellen, eldest daughter of iv. Esq., of Brighton.al Deaths. g ear'sO" CORY.—On the 13th inst., at Plymouth , Je ll° Nicholas Coiy, aged 63. ds CleP/3301, Cnope,-0 , 1 the 15th inst., at Oaklaa t jerrilli' Cropp, Esq , aged 66. G wieh, 00°. JERMyli".—On the 151 h inst., at ureett.,... t t ile Esq., of the Stock EXChatlge, aged 6,) terstre° ' 111311011eS PETRE,—On the 13th inst., at 40, cot e-D IA Hon. Robert Petra, aged 61. anti.alor •.,/ 4. t 4. —a b ed i'' PIERREPONT,--On 15th ins,. ..., a t 4+ iiire, Mayfair, the lion. Philip Sydneay ....,reeiand, Per th, RUTIIVEN,-011 the 13th inst., t Y„,f yreelanao'ocoori the Right lion. Baroness Rutharetior,; t stree-,P_lirolter ° STUART.-011 the 14th inst., at _.ouvg.ost az. .., square, the Lady LOUiSa Stua rt, Y , , Francis, 10th Earl of Moray. k; S' ' a,51 AN ° 1 j 1; t --------- WILDL--- to o TO. at London : Prlni-,e rtqlshed I)! ~, ,,v sir; n 0 e ~0 0n ly of No. 112, Strand I'rinter, 3%."370,0y. i n 0 v Strand, in the Precinct o f tu ~, go. 01 w' Middlvoex.--Tuesday, Felg 4, 4 0 bit eeto T( 11 ,c 1ity.111504 ) /1 oi l uorz t A, ult4i ta jt4 l 1 3 4' I ° Itito